--- description: Ash Carter has quashed claims that the federal government is planning an invasion of Texas under the guise of military exercises. title: Relax, Texas: The Feds Aren't Invading image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt51d484e6f7e5abfc/6987eee23c163979cb455e8d/jade-helm-15_wong.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [States](/tag/states/) ## States Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Don't Worry, Texas, the Federal Government Isn't Planning a Military Takeover by [Sabrina Toppa](/author/sabrina-toppa/) ## Sabrina Toppa Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 8, 2015 7:28 AM CUT  Bob Welch, standing at left, and Jim Dillon, hold a sign at a public hearing about the Jade Helm 15 military training exercise in Bastrop, Texas, April 27, 2015 Bob Welch, standing at left, and Jim Dillon, hold a sign at a public hearing about the Jade Helm 15 military training exercise in Bastrop, Texas, April 27, 2015Jay Janner—AP by [Sabrina Toppa](/author/sabrina-toppa/) ## Sabrina Toppa Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 8, 2015 7:28 AM CUT In Texas, conspiracy theories have [swirled](http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2015/05/07/u-s-defense-secretary-no-texas-invasion/ "undefined") that a two-month U.S. military exercise — named Jade Helm 15 — in seven states across America’s southwest might be an armed federal takeover of the Lone Star state in disguise. On Thursday, Defense Secretary Ash Carter rebutted these claims with an emphatic “No,” the _Wall Street Journal_ reports. Jade Helm 15 is the largest military training exercise ever undertaken by the U.S. Army Special Operations Command. The fears of some Texans were stoked when military maps to be used in the exercise were found to show Texas (as well as Utah and California) as “hostile” territory. The resulting controversy prompted Governor Greg Abbott to [request](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/07/us/conspiracy-theories-over-jade-helm-get-some-traction-in-texas.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined") that the Texas State Guard monitor the exercise. Actor Chuck Norris also [chimed](http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/may/04/chuck-norris-warns-government-conspiracy-take-over-texas "undefined") in, exhorting Texans to be vigilant: “It’s pretty sad and bad when major military ops are ordered in a large, fiery state like Texas and not even the governor or its senators know the specifics.” Carter emphasized on Thursday that Pentagon officials had notified the state government of the relevant details: “We’re very open and up front about our training activities in the United States, and I should say that we’re very grateful for the support of communities around the United States.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3851332/texas-jade-helm-15-military-takeover-conspiracy-theory/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3851332/texas-jade-helm-15-military-takeover-conspiracy-theory/"},"headline":"Don't Worry, Texas, the Federal Government Isn't Planning a Military Takeover","datePublished":"2015-05-08T07:28:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:24:47.310Z","description":"The military's largest training exercise is just that—an exercise","url":"https://time.com/3851332/texas-jade-helm-15-military-takeover-conspiracy-theory/","keywords":["States","Texas","Military","ted cruz"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt51d484e6f7e5abfc/6987eee23c163979cb455e8d/jade-helm-15_wong.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sabrina Toppa","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/sabrina-toppa/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt51d484e6f7e5abfc/6987eee23c163979cb455e8d/jade-helm-15_wong.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Bob Welch, standing at left, and Jim Dillon, hold a sign at a public hearing about the Jade Helm 15 military training exercise in Bastrop, Texas, April 27, 2015","caption":"Bob Welch, standing at left, and Jim Dillon, hold a sign at a public hearing about the Jade Helm 15 military training exercise in Bastrop, Texas, April 27, 2015","creditText":"Jay Janner—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/states/","name":"States"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3851332/texas-jade-helm-15-military-takeover-conspiracy-theory/","name":"Don't Worry, Texas, the Federal Government Isn't Planning a Military Takeover"}}]}] ```